Piezoelectric actuators are known to fail through a number of modes. For example short circuit failures are known to occur as a result of electrochemical ion migration due to the presence of water. They may also fail from surface flash-over, where internal electrodes of the same polarity are exposed at the surface of the piezo stack. This is exacerbated by contamination of the surface of the piezo stack with conductive materials. They may also fail by reduction of the insulating lead oxide in the grain boundaries of the commonly used lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material to form (conductive) lead metal.
It is not possible to completely eliminate water from the PZT material during manufacture as even firing at high temperature for prolonged periods leaves small traces. Also, the materials, for example polymers, used to passivate the exposed internal electrodes may contain water and other sources of hydrogen.
Therefore, there is a need for a method of encapsulating an actuator which eliminates or significantly reduces failure of an actuator through the above-mentioned failure modes.